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By Matthew DeGeorge

Weshly Rosario had the right mindset at halftime, though he and his Reading teammates let it wane by the end of the third quarter.

Up 13 at the break at the Fred Pickett Gymnasium Saturday in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A Tournament, the sophomore guard knew that Chester wasn’t going to go quietly, even after a first half of haymakers.

“We went to the locker room and said, this is going to be crazy and we need to stay ready,” Rosario said. “We know we can finish good if we can stay together.”

But when the Red Knights unleashed their next salvo, knocking the Clippers down 18 points late in the third quarter, a little overconfidence crept in. For just a moment, Reading thought it might have one foot in the second round.

Instead, Reading required every second of the 32 minutes and a fortunate call at the buzzer to get there.

Chester trailed the entire way, and a shot by Dallas Thompson at the horn where he and Reading forward Xavier Beatty made a lot of contact went uncalled as Reading survived a 65-63 thriller.

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By GLQ Share

When the going got tough, Emily Knouse got going.

Specifically, the Archbishop Wood junior got going downhill toward the rim to start the fourth quarter of Saturday’s state playoff opener with Radnor. The Raptors had been physical, scrappy and resilient all afternoon and Knouse knew it was time to change the tune.

Wood’s strong fourth quarter powered the three-time defending champions to a 55-43 win over Radnor in the first round of the PIAA 5A tournament.

“My shots weren’t falling as much as I’d like them to be and Coach Mike (McDonald) told me ‘she’s chasing you over (screens) so have space, go ahead and rip,’” Knouse said. “I had to be strong, if you’re strong enough then you’ll get finishes.”

Radnor, the sixth seed out of District 1, knew it had nothing to lose and played like it. The Raptors scored the game’s first eight points, were within four at the half and still had the deficit below double digits going to the fourth.

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By Andrew Robinson

When the going got tough, Emily Knouse got going Saturday.

Specifically, the Archbishop Wood junior got going downhill toward the rim to start the fourth quarter of a state playoff opener with Radnor. The Raptors had been physical, scrappy and resilient all afternoon, and Knouse knew it was time to change the tune.

Wood’s strong fourth quarter powered the three-time defending champions to a 55-43 win in the first round of the PIAA 5A tournament.

“My shots weren’t falling as much as I’d like them to be and Coach Mike (McDonald) told me ‘she’s chasing you over (screens) so have space, go ahead and rip,’” Knouse said. “I had to be strong, if you’re strong enough then you’ll get finishes.”

Radnor, the sixth seed out of District 1, knew it had nothing to lose and played like it. The Raptors scored the game’s first eight points, were within four at the half and still had the deficit below double digits going to the fourth.

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Jared Leveson 

Chris Dolan didn’t have any Wheaties or “Mike’s Secret Stuff” before Springfield (Delco) boys basketball’s PIAA Class 6A first-round state playoff game at Abraham Lincoln High School. 

The usually reluctant shooter just stayed ready for his opportunities and made the most of them. 

In Springfield’s first state tournament game since 2017, the 6-foot-4 junior let it rip early, scoring its first eight points. Dolan’s spurt set the tone for the Cougars and propelled them to a dominant 59-43 win over Lincoln on Saturday afternoon.

“I was open for all of them,” Dolan said about his hot hand. “When you have other guys who score as much as we do, it opens up a lot, and that always helps.” 

The Division 1-AA football prospect at wide receiver and safety finished with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and three assists. Still, he was proud of his effort on the glass and defensive end. Dolan racked up six rebounds and two steals.

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By Josh Verlin

There was no state playoff miracle this time around for Garnet Valley. 

The Jaguars went toe-to-toe with Central York in a PIAA 6A first-round matchup, acquitting themselves well against one of the best teams from central Pennsylvania for the second straight season. But unlike last year, when a buzzer-beating 3-pointer got the Jaguars into the second round, it was the Panthers who closed strong for a 69-60 win on Saturday afternoon.

t’s the third straight year that the season ended in the state tournament for Garnet Valley (19-10), which made a run to the District 1 6A championship game for the first time since 1997. That’s a far cry from a decade ago, when the program was still on the upswing from three consecutive one-win seasons.

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By Matthew DeGeorge

A year ago, Haverford’s dream season ended in a flash. Twenty-seven wins, then a loss in the District 1 Class 6A final and a first-round states setback, and a season that had marauded through the its first three months evaporated.

The Fords didn’t need a reminder Friday of what can happen when you start a tournament slow. Instead, the group this week let the ghosts of the past lie and focused on the task at hand.

“I think we’re just focusing on this year,” said forward Natalie Wright, after contributing 18 points to a 66-28 elimination of Murrell Dobbins in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament. “New people, new team, just moving forward. … Losing a game like that, you’ve just got to get back up. You can’t have that hanging over you, as the games go on, years go on. You’ve got to get up and give it everything.”

Haverford left nothing to chance in this game against the District 12 opponent at Archbishop Ryan High. The Fords scored 24 of the game’s first 26 points and stretched the lead to 35 late in the first half against an undermanned Dobbins squad. Like any other game, Lauren Pellicane’s team identified the matchups and exploited them – in this case, a marked height advantage that led to a 36-19 edge on the boards and length to find passing lanes off their ball movement.

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